All We Need
by Shadow of the Rain
Summary: One-Shot. Kuki is upset and turns to Wally for comfort. In the end, he proves that all anyone really needs is some ice cream and a hug.


AN: I would like to just set the scene a little. Kuki and Wally are both in their teens, let's just say fourteen, and are working as undercover agents for the KND, but that's not important to the fic.

**All We Need**

They were at it again. Kuki sighed sadly at the muffled sound of her parents arguing in the living room. She couldn't make out what was the cause this time, but it didn't really matter. It seemed likes these days they'd argue over just about anything. As their yelling escalated, Kuki reached over and turned up her radio. It wouldn't be long until her parents would drown out the upbeat pop music completely, making finishing her homework impossible, but there was really nothing else she could do. She just had to make the best of it.

_'If side A is four units long and side B is three units long then—'_ The sound of something shattering caused Kuki to wince. She looked up from her math homework with alarm. Her parents had never broken anything before. _'What's going on?'_ she wondered. She had to admit, she was a little scared. She knew her parents would never actually hurt each other, but their arguing always upset her. Her mother's incomprehensible screaming came through Kuki's bedroom door. Her mother was always the more composed of the two. For her to be yelling at her husband like that meant whatever they were arguing about was bad. Really bad. Unable to ignore them anymore, Kuki turned off her music to lessen the bedlam and stood up from her desk.

Quietly, slowly, she opened her door and slipped out in the hall. She didn't want her parents to know she could hear them. Sure, she'd have to be completely deaf or living two blocks away to _not_ hear them, but as long as both parties pretended she didn't, sitting at the breakfast table the next morning was much less awkward. When she peeked over the railing, neither parent was visible on the floor below. From the sounds of it, they were in the kitchen now, out of view.

"You think you can do that?!" Her mother's voice was now clearly audible. "You can just say 'drop it' and the whole problem will just disappear?!" Her father muttered something that Kuki couldn't make out. "You have a wife and kids to think about!" her mother yelled. "You can't just screw around with whomever you feel like because you hate your home life!"

Kuki's hand flew to her mouth and she gasped, unable to believe what she had just heard. "Dad, you didn't…" she whispered, staring at the kitchen entranceway. As her eyes filled with tears she noticed something lying on the floor by the wall. It was her parents' wedding photo, normally kept on the mantle, though now it was flung across the room, its glass shattered. Kuki whirled around and ran back into her room, shutting the door behind her.

Fighting back sobs, she leaned against her door and slowly slid to the floor. She couldn't believe it. She knew her parents' relationship was rocky, but she never imagined it was _this_ bad. What did it mean for the family? She didn't know, and she was afraid to think about it, because she knew she wouldn't like the answer.

Reaching up to her desk, Kuki pulled down her telephone and cradled the receiver against her ear. She desperately needed someone to talk to right then. Her fingers automatically dialed the first number that came to mind, and as the phone rang softly in her ear, she took several deep breaths to try to calm herself.

"Hello?" Luckily for her, her friend picked up the phone so she didn't have to talk to any adults.

"Hi, Wally," she said. There was no point trying to hide the shaking in her voice.

"Kuki? What's wrong? Are you okay?" He sounded concerned.

"Not really," she admitted, sniffling. "I—"

"You haven't been kidnapped have you? Have the, er, enemies attacked you?" From the sound of his voice, he was clearly ready to go into ass-kicking mode. "Do you need some backup?" For some reason, his reaction caused her to break out into a tiny, watery smile.

"No," she said, starting to regain a bit of composure. Just hearing the sound of his voice made her feel better a little better. "I'm fine. I just…I just need someone to talk to right now."

"Oh." He sounded relieved and a little embarrassed. "O-okay."

There was silence on the phone for a while. "So, um, did you go to the football game on Thursday?" Wally said nervously.

She forgot that when guys talked on the phone they liked to actually, you know, talk. Still, Kuki didn't say anything for a few more seconds. "Wally, I-I think my dad is having an affair," she finally said.

"What? Are you serious?" He sounded just as shocked as she felt.

"Yeah…they're yelling about it right now."

"Heh, I thought you were listening to heavy metal…" It was one of his awkward attempts to cheer her up, but it wasn't working. Both ends of the line were silent again.

"I'm coming to get you," Wally said.

"What?"

"You don't need to spend all night listening to a couple of cruddy adults screaming at each other. We'll just hang out until they've cooled off."

Kuki glanced across the room at her alarm clock. It was 10:04 at night. She had snuck out at later times than that for KND business. "…Um…"

"Right. Then I'll be there in ten minutes." With that, he hung up the phone.

Kuki set the phone back on her desk and stood up. She sighed. Perhaps it would have been better to just call one of her friends from cheerleading. Sure, they were sided with the adults and technically her enemies, but they would have been way more supportive than Wally had been. Still, emotional issues weren't really something Wally knew how to deal with, and Kuki knew he was trying to cheer her up in the best way he knew how.

At least picking up all the girly and embarrassing things in her room gave her a small distraction. Once she was sure all her panties were out of sight and all the silly doodles she did in class were tucked safely away, she opened her window and busied herself with creating a Kuki-sized lump underneath the sheets on her bed. Rainbow Monkeys served a purpose beyond simply being cute and cuddly stuffed animals. The tree outside her window was rustling by this time, and soon enough there was a bright orange sweatshirt attached to a familiar face standing in her bedroom. Wally was scowling slightly, his hands jammed into the front pouch of his hoodie.

"C'mon, let's get out of here," he said, jerking his head toward the window. Kuki frowned, growing annoyed at his apparent insensitivity. Maybe it would be better to just stay there instead of being stuck with someone who wasn't going to be very understanding.

"I dunno," she began, irked. "It's pretty late and—WHAA!" Before she had a chance to argue, Wally had grabbed her by the hand and was jumping to the window sill. "Wally, will you hold on a second!" She tried to brace herself against the edge of the window to prevent Wally from pulling her headfirst out the window.

"Don't tell me you're getting too old for this," he teased, but he released her hand anyway. He jumped and landed easily on an outstretched branch of the old tree.

She crossed her arms. "No, I just don't want to break my neck," she replied. Nevertheless, Kuki leapt to the tree as well. Wally was already making his way to its weathered trunk to climb down.

"Oi! Hurry up, will ya?" he called from below her. Kuki was becoming angry by now. She grumbled incomprehensibly and hurried after him, ready to give him a piece of her mind. She let herself drop down the last few feet, her shoes crunching a few acorns scattered around the tree truck.

"Wallabee Beatles!" she called in her best 'I'm pissed at you' tone, but he was already on his way down the street. He only paused for a moment to see if she was still following him.

"What's taking you so long?" he called. He seemed excited about something, but Kuki was too irritated to notice.

"Wally…" she growled before tearing off after him. He spun around and started running. Kuki may have had longer legs than he did, but he was more athletic, and so was easily able to keep her from catching him. They ran for quite a while, and right when Kuki thought she was close enough to snag Wally's jacket hood flying behind him, he stopped dead in his tracks. She didn't have enough time to react and crashed headlong into him, causing both teens to tumble to the ground.

"Wally, what the heck are you doing?" Kuki asked, glaring down at him, nose to nose.

"Well…I, erm, wanted t-to cheer you up…" Unlike Kuki, who was too angry to notice their current position, the poor boy was very much aware how close their faces were, and his face was steadily turning a brilliant shade of red.

"And how is dragging me out of my room in the middle of the night and running around the neighborhood supposed to cheer me up?!"

"Um…" Wally glanced over at something to his right. Kuki followed his gaze.

She blinked, anger deflating. "Are those what I think they are?" she asked. Not too far from where they were sprawled, an odd assortment of items sat atop a sandbox, and Kuki realized they had stopped at the nearby playground. She got off of Wally and slowly walked over to the sandbox. Just as she had thought, sitting beside a folded picnic blanket and two bottles of root beer was an all-too-familiar site: a T.H.R.O.W.C.O.N.E. (Thingamajig Hits Rowdy Opponents With Cones On Noggins Especially) and an I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M.E.D. (Ice-Controlled Electric Cannon Rapidly Ejects A Melty Edible Dessert).

"Well, yeah," he said. "Ice cream can make any problem seem better, after all."

Kuki turned back to her friend with her hands on her hips, fighting back a smile. "Wally, we could get in serious trouble for using 2x4 technology out in public, you know."

From the look on his face, he looked like he hadn't even thought of that. Kuki giggled at his momentary panic. "We'll just tell any teenagers that we swiped them from a bunch of 'dumb brats' who tried to sneak into our rooms." It was a suitable enough excuse, and they weren't likely to be discovered by any classmates around here anyway.

"So you like it?" Wally stuffed his hands into his jacket pocket and glanced over at her with a nervous expression.

Kuki was touched by his effort. He really did understand that she was upset and this was his way of trying to comfort her. "Only if there's chocolate chip cookie dough in that I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M.E.D." she said.

Wally smiled. "Well duh! It's not like you keep your favorite flavor a secret or anything." The two made their way over to the sandbox where Wally spread the picnic blanket over the wooden rim of one side. Soon enough, both teens were eating a double scoop of ice cream with their bare feet buried in the sand, shoes and socks tossed aside.

"So, you really think your dad is cheating one your mum?" Wally asked after a while.

Kuki nodded. "Yeah," she said quietly. "Mom said he was screwing around." She sighed. "She even broke their wedding photo. I've never heard her that angry before."

"Man, that sucks." Wally sent a small amount of sand flying with his big toe.

"Yeah…"

Silence. Cautiously Wally asked, "You think they'll get a divorce?"

Kuki felt tears come to her eyes. "I don't know," she said around the rising lump in her throat.

"Do you want them to?"

"I don't know," she said again. "I mean, I don't want them to separate, but…I don't want them to argue all the time either." She tried to wipe away the tears that fell with her sleeve, but more came. She felt a hand on her shoulder and she glanced up at Wally.

"There's really nothing you can do about that though," he said ruefully. "Adults are stupid. You can't change that."

Kuki sighed and nodded. "I know…" She slowly pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees.

The next thing she knew, Wally had his arm around her and was hugging her against him. Burying her face into his shoulder and clutching the back of his jacket, she stayed there for a long time. As time passed, Kuki realized she was no longer clinging to him because she needed to be comforted, but because she liked being close to him, with his scent around her and his cheek resting atop her head.

"Um…" Kuki cleared her throat nervously and pulled out of his embrace, feeling her face burn red with embarrassment. "I should probably go back home soon. It's getting kind of late."

"Heh, yeah…" Wally nervously scratched the back of his head. He was blushing too.

Yet neither one made any movement to leave. Finally Wally stood up and offered his hand out to Kuki. She took it and let him pull her to her feet. While he slung the I.C.E.C.R.E.A.M.E.D. over his shoulder and grabbed his remaining things, Kuki slipped on her sandals and threw away their two half-eaten ice cream cones. If that wasn't a sign they were getting older, she didn't know what was. When they were kids they always finished their ice cream and would probably be working their way through seconds.

As she and Wally left the playground, Kuki quietly slipped her hand into his. They both glanced at their clasped hands, then stared at each other for a moment before quickly turning away, both blushing furiously though neither tried to free their hands. They walked in embarrassed silence until they reached Kuki's house. Everything was dark and quiet by now, the only light shining from the open window of Kuki's room.

"Well, I guess I'll see ya tomorrow," Wally said, reluctantly dropping her hand.

"Yeah. I hear there's a pop quiz in English tomorrow." There was a definite air of awkwardness hanging over them.

"I guess I should go over the vocab list then."

"Yeah, probably…Well, see ya." Kuki started to turn away but stopped. Spinning back around, she threw her arms around Wally and wrapped him in a tight hug. "Thanks, Wally," she whispered.

"D-don't mention it," he stammered. Kuki quickly released him and pulled herself up on a low hanging branch. After she jumped through her window, she turned around to see Wally still standing there, watching to make sure she got to her room safely.

Waving to him, she called, "Good night, Wally!" as loudly as she dared. He waved back and turned to leave, and she shut her window.

As she changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas, Kuki couldn't stop smiling. Sure, she was still upset over her parents and was worried over what would happen, but she felt that as long as she had Wally to turn to, things would turn out okay. After clearing her bed of the Rainbow Monkeys, Kuki selected a bright orange one and cuddled up with it as she drifted off to sleep, dreaming of cookie dough ice cream and Wally's warm embrace.

**End**

AN: I searched everywhere for what that ice cream cone gun and that ice cream flame thrower thingy (from F.A.S.T.F.O.O.D., among others) were really called, but I couldn't find anything…so I made up some names. Hope they're not too terrible. ;; I also couldn't find any pics of Kuki's house. (Shame on you KND Wiki!), so I had to improvise. The title was inspired by the Bowling for Soup song, "Shut Up and Smile." I had already written most of the fic when I realized that the entire premise could be summed up in one of the song's lyrics. "All we need is some ice cream and a hug." Never a truer word spoken. 80 of the world's problems could be solved by ice cream alone…85 if it's chocolate.

Anyway, I hope you liked it! 3/4 forevah!


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